Like many designers, I learned InDesign by leaping headfirst into it and figuring it out as I went. (In my case, I transitioned from the Illustrator-centric package design world to the InDesign-centric marketing design world.) I started with the immediate, need-to-know functions. As time went by, I snooped around and learned some simple ways to make InDesign work more effectively for me. What a difference those techniques have made! If I go back into files that I created long ago,

Y’know that guy – one of your peers who always seems to get the very best clients? He who: Never has a problem with late payments. Doesn’t have to haggle pricing on rush projects. Makes handling a client misunderstanding sound like a stroll in the park. That guy may very well have good luck in finding clients, but chances are he’s great at forming relationships with them, too. He knows how to become more than just a Photoshop guru or

So you want to start a business? Or perhaps you just did? Are you mad? Bonkers? Insane? Lost your marbles? Quick, you still have time! Get outta here!! Run for your life. Run for the hills. Go on, go! Get out while you can!! Run, Forrest, RUN!!! I mean really, are you sure you want this? It takes one tough cookie and some mighty 4” thick skin to fight the battles you’re about to fight just to survive each day?

It takes a lot of work to get clients. Once you get them though, you have to know how to keep them, or all that hard work is lost. This is what my own agency has done to keep clients for years. #1: Tell it to them straight. We tell clients “no” all the time. They ask for certain things or changes or strategies, and many times it’s not the best way to go. So we tell them that, and

Your portfolio is online, you have a stack of business cards handy, you’re trying all of the traditional methods to find new clients, and yet…nobody’s knocking on your door. Now what? Client acquisition is one of those tasks you’ll need to deal with as long as you’re in the design business. To help out, here’s a list of some non-traditional methods you can use you find new clients and, in some cases, create additional revenue streams. Some are easy. Some

We’ve covered a lot of ground at GDB when it comes to working with clients, finding clients, pitching them on your services and then even delivering the results of your work to them effectively. But there’s one more scenario we need to focus on, and that is the moment when a potential client comes to your site looking around to find a way to get a hold of you. So how to convince them to reach out to you effectively? Or better yet,

Pricing is super-hard. You’re thrilled that someone wants to hire you, and then you obsess over creating a proposal. And before you even get to the panicky part about what the client will think about the final numbers, you have to actually determine what final number feels right to you. For longer than I’d like to admit, I sort of just picked a number that sounded good to me without a ton of justification. Sure, I kind of did a

It was 9:00pm. I rushed down to the lake by the house, walked a bit up the trail that wraps around it, and waited. I paced. Bit my nails. Then, the phone call: “Hi, Dr. Pat, good to hear from you,” I said, and the conversation began. This call had to go perfectly. We needed this project. It would be one of our first “big” ones – $1200 to design and write a full-page newspaper advertorial. This was our chance

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